Origins of Calendula

Five Calendula Species listed in Flora Europeae

Calendula was written about by the Roman Botanist and physician Pliny in the first century. Calendula has been known as a garden plant for 2000 years. Some scholars say the origin of the name Europe is found in the Semitic Akkadian language, spoken in ancient Mesopotamia. Akkadian word erebu, means sunset, from the Mesopotamian perspective, the setting sun descended on Europe. (Brittanica says "no one knows for sure the origin of Europe's name, but it stuck.")

• Calendula arvensis: south & central Europe, polymorphic species

• Calendula bicolor: Sicily, southern Spain, Greece

• Calendula officinalis: found throughout Europe, naturalized in southern and western Europe: Azores, Spain, Italy

• Calendula stellata: endemic to Sicily

• Calendula suffruticosa: coastal Mediterranean & Portugal, rock crevices